Should I let my faucets drip tonight? (Austin, Mart: loan, buy)

[MattV]

Originally Posted by pbnj07

Not to make light of your question, as it's a legitimate one, but as a relocated NorthEast person, I find it humorous that people here in Austin are even concerned with pipe-freezing.

You'll be fine.

Thank you............ I thought I was in bazaroo world for a minute. I'm from the North East also, and I find it down right funny that someone would ask that question.

It won't stay freezing long enough to cause any damage........

I'd apologize for laughing at your post, but beleive me, if you knew me you could make fun of me for so many things I don't know about you could write a novel.

[Skeptical]

I have an outside faucet on the outside of my unheated garage. I wonder if dripping is preferable to styrofoam covers which I also have wrapped with a towel?

[jmitchell]

I think the recommendation is to do both. The covers would actually help keep the insides of the pipes less cold, even if maybe just a little since everything is unheated around it. The dripping relieves pressure if water still freezes, so the pipes don't burst, but doesn't help with the temperature.

[Taterhead]

Originally Posted by jmitchell

I think the recommendation is to do both. The covers would actually help keep the insides of the pipes less cold, even if maybe just a little since everything is unheated around it. The dripping relieves pressure if water still freezes, so the pipes don't burst, but doesn't help with the temperature.

How do you let them drip if they are covered? Ours are frozen this morning and won't turn on. Should we thaw them out and get them dripping? they were covered with styrofoam and wrapped with a towel too.

Debbie

[calel]

I had a bit of a panic attack this morning, thanks to my kitchen faucet left dripping overnight. My faucet is on its last legs, the cartridge somewhat leaky... I didn't realize the extent of the leak until I walked into the kitchen this morning to see water pooled on the floor. Thinking the worst, I pulled out the fridge from the wall, looked around the dining area, and the outside expecting to see a flood from a burst pipe somewhere. Nope, as it turns out, not only is the cartridge leaky on top, but it's leaking into the cabinet underneath as well. I was intending to replace the faucet anyway, but it will now be sooner rather than later.

[kiacook]

Guess what smart asses? There's no water coming out of my hot water side of my faucets. Think the pipe might be frozen? Nah! That's silly!

[buffy888]

Had that problem this morning. (We didn't wrap and didn't let anything drip last night - honestly didn't think of it as we moved back down here a few years ago from Omaha and we never had to do that there.) It is working now. Ran the bathtub faucet for a while - turned the handle about 2/3 of the way towards Hot as nothing would come up at all if it was all the way to the left and didn't have as much water pressure about 3/4 of the way towards Hot, but was getting almost average flow at about 2/3 around so thought that might at least get the pipes thinking about warming up... After a bit, I also turned on the hot water in the sink - hadn't been coming out before, but started to come out once the tub faucet was on for a while. Let both run for a few more minutes (I also turned the kitchen faucet on to warm-ish position at some point there) - heard the flow start to pick up and went back in to check, then suddenly a bunch of frigid water came out, but that was followed immediately by wonderful hot water.

Anyway, this worked for us. Not sure it would work for anyone else, but maybe something to try? I was quite worried when it first happened, so quite thankful it worked out.

[woodinvilleguy]

No pipes frozen for us but I did have a 6" long icicle on our pool's water fall. The pool autoruns when the temp gets close to freezing.

[kiacook]

I guess I made the mistake of only letting the cold water drip - not the hot. But I did turn all the hot faucets on and after a while the water did begin flowing. My hot water heater is in the garage and the kitchen sink is the nearest faucet and it wasn't running there - I'm guessing the hot water pipe either runs through the outside wall from the heater or through the attic (not sure, never been up there!) and got a little frosty! I'll know what to keep an eye on next time!

[hiskitten]

We've put on the covers & are letting the faucets drip tonight. One night won't break our bill, but if a pipe bursts we're screwed.

Just FYI, my neighbor came over this morning asking for help b/c a pipe burst in her house. My husband had to help her turn the water off at the street. AND, my folks walked in after shopping to find their kitchen and dining room ceilings on their floors and their house filled with water. They had been gone 2 hours and the water just flooded their house. The repair guy told them they were swamped right now and to expect it to be a month before they could put their house back together (a few days for the pipes, a few days for the adjuster and a few weeks replacing flooring, ceilings, painting, etc). Granted, these are both older homes, but we're not taking any chances!